Rapid Light Wholemeal Loaf - Sara Lewis

There's nothing better in my opinion, than a well made sandwich, to satisfy one's hunger - be it for breakfast or as a snack or even for lunch. The bread should be fresh and the fillings juicy - that's all that one needs! I especially love the toasted sandwich - no, not the grilled sandwich - the one you toast on those metal sandwich toasters over the gas flame.

Having grown up in Mumbai, I simply love those fresh sandwiches the streetside vendors make - white bread (yeah, yeah I hear ya), a choice of plain butter or Amul butter, mint chutney and then the fillings - onions rings, slices of boiled potaotes and beet, raw tomatoes - a sprinkle of salt and pepper, quick cutting into 8 square towers you had to struggle to fit into your mouth - Heaven! We practically lived on Subhash's Rs.5 sandwiches when we were in college - it was so cheap and filling.


Some guys also had toasted sandwiches - while we used to make them regularly at home (probably the first thing I "cooked" in the kitchen) I had them outside only when I was doing my CA - the guy opposite Eros theatre in Churchgate was very good but I'm sure everyone has their favourite one.
I still love to have toasted sandwiches for breakfast - tomato, boiled potatoes or even eggs, coriander mint chutney, half a cheese slice - perfect start to the day. Haven't had a nice sandwich outside for a very long time - the apologies which pass for sandwiches in places like Coffee Day should be banned. Sitting in the display rack for ages, filled with some truly shocking stuff (once I got a sandwich with grated carrots and mayonnaise!) they are not worth half the money being charged.

Its been a long time since I baked bread - pizza base is what I have been experimenting with for some time. The cold temps till now also didn't help - now that the weather is turning, I thought it would be a good time to have a home made loaf of bread.

Picked a recipe from Sara Lewis's The Bread Book - it has half whole wheat and half white flour and I thought it would be a good halfway bread to have. It turned out well, even though I had to up the flour quantity since, by mistake, I poured all the water into the flour originally measured out. The bread had a nice crumb and was soft with a great crust - it was also soo easy to make. I definitely recommend this for someone who is trying to bake wholemeal bread for the first time.

Rapid Light Wholemeal Loaf - Adapted from Sara Lewis's The Bread Book

2 1/4 cups wholewheat flour
1 3/4 cups strong white flour
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp active dried yeast
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup warm water

1. Heat the water till just hot and dissolve the sugar in it, wait for it to cool till just warm (shouldnt be cold or hot) and dissolve the yeast in it. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Mix the two flours, salt, oil - pour in the yeast mixture a little at a time and knead well for about 10 minutes till the dough comes together - smooth but not sticky.
3. Grease a loaf tin and put the dough into it. cover loosely with a lightly oiled cling film and leave in a warm place to rise - about an hour or till the dough reaches just above the top of the tin.
4. Slash with a sharp knife - the bread cooks well and looks good too.
5. Pre heat oven to 200c, remove the clingfilm and bake for 25-30 minutes - when tapped the loaf should sound hollow and the bread will be browned on top. The book recommends checking after 15 minutes and to cover with foil if it is overbrowning.
6. Loosen bread from the sides of the tin, transfer to wire rack and cool.

We had this for breakfast the next day - sauteed sausages, tomatoes, lettuce, vegetable patties, mint chutney, cheese, mustard - we mixed and matched. Whats your favourite way to have a sandwich?

Whole Wheat Crust Pizza

I'm getting progressively better at making pizza from scratch - it's such a joy to bite into a lovely thin crust pizza, choc-a-bloc with toppings of our choice. As much or as little cheese as we want - no rationing of olives....as you can see I'm not too much of a fan of store bought pizzas!

On an average, we order pizzas about once every 4 months; we almost never go out and eat pizza - though after coming to Delhi we have found a couple of Italian restaurants which serve some great thin crust pizza - Vera Pizza at Tonino's is one of them, though for some reason the M.G Road outlet is better than the Greater Kailash one.
Aming the delivered Pizzas, loved Smokin' Joes when I was in Mumbai and when they started out Pizza Express in Chennai was very good. Slice of Italy in Delhi is also a good bet on most days.

The first time I ate one of the international "chain" pizzas was the day I got married. I was determined we wouldn't starve at our reception while seeing people all around us stuff their faces, so we ordered up a pizza to our hotel room from a brand new outlet downstairs and had it while I was getting my make up and hair done! The pizza was thick and doughy and I hated it. It was a long, long time before I had another one.


Its a pleasure then, to sink your teeth into one of these babies. Here it is before it went into the oven - this was the second one and since I had already one baking in the oven in my one and only metal pan, I put the second half of the dough into a shallow oven proof glass pan. But I won't be repeating it because the glass doesn't seem to be a great idea. The pizza took longer to cook and the glass was hot when I brought it out that I burnt my arm in two places! OUCH!!!

I stuck to the recipe I have been using from Jugalbandi with just a few adjustments.

Closer to perfection each time I make it, this time was very satisfying especially since the yeast did not give me any problem. I used olives, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and onions. The sauce was store bought this time since I didn't have the time to make this delicious roasted pepper sauce. But it was good nevertheless! Try it out and you will be a convert in no time!

Veggie Garden - Thin Crust Pizza with Roasted Pepper Sauce

The last time I made pizza from scratch was when I was about 16 and I embarked on Project Pizza. Remember those days before pizza chains? - the neighbourhood Udipi pizza with tomato sauce on the base and overcooked veggies hidden by mounds of grated Amul cheese was the only option. So when I saw a recipe for making pizza in Femina, I decided that I was going to make it.
Dear Dad joined in my enthusiasm and offered to knead the dough. The rest was quite easy and I was pleased as punch when we sat down for dinner with that home baked pizza.

16 long years later we have amazing options for pizza - the generic chains with their thick, floury crusts and the nice Italian thin crust pizzas made in some restaurants in wood fired ovens. Somehow, I am not as much of a pizza fan as I used to be and we barely eat pizza about once in 6 months now. My 4 year old has now caught on to the concept of pizza and loves the photos she sees in the flyers which come with the newspaper. We tried ordering a pizza for her because she kept asking for it but when faced with the real thing, she didn't like it.

One Sunday morning while we were lazing around with the newspapers (what's a Sunday without multiple newspapers and all the "sections"!) I was faced with the "what to make for lunch" question. Is it just me or does everyone hate this question? It's not only dependent on what's available at home, but also what we have eaten in the past week plus our own preference for what we feel like eating at that time.

Anyway, at 11 am, I decided to make pizza. From scratch.
Which not only meant that I had to test whether the yeast I had at home was good enough but also factor in the one hour needed for the dough to prove. And then the half hour for the pizza to bake. A quick mental calculation told me I could still have lunch ready by 1 30pm. Famous last thoughts.Especially when Murphy is at work.

The yeast bubbled up merrily, hubby was sent out to buy all the "fixin's" and I set about kneading the dough and setting it aside to prove. By that time hubby was back with the ingredients for the sauce and the toppings. MIL is visiting so I decided to make things simpler by keeping it all vegetarian. (hubby's suggestion of "washing yesterday's chicken tikka gravy pieces and putting it on one pizza" was met by a glare from me - seriously where do they get these ideas?).

Since I loved it in the muhamarra sauce, I roasted one red pepper, peeled it and chopped it up to add to the tomato sauce and it really lifted the sauce to a whole new level. For the toppings, I used babycorn, mushrooms, yellow and green peppers, cherry tomatoes, onions and garlic - I know, a little OTT but it was good to go overboard after the stinginess we face in store bought pizzas - sometimes it looks like they have actually counted the olives before placing them @ 2 olives per slice!

The pizza base didn't rise very well for some reason and though I left it a bit longer in the vain hope that time would do what the yeast wasn't doing, I couldn't wait too long and after one and a half hours I spread the sauce and the fillings, grated the cheese, popped it into the oven and hoped for the best. Murphy promptly stepped in of course, and my oven which has never been set above 220C, promptly shut down with 5 more minutes left. I had to rush to my upstairs neighbour (Thanks A!) , finish baking the pizza AND pop the next one in, in her oven. By the time I was able to have one pizza ready for MIL and my daughter (who refused to eat anything else in the meantime) it was 2 45pm, and another half hour before Hubby and me could eat!


Everyone agreed though that it was well worth the wait and even K ate two pieces, toppings and all. The crust was good but not soft enough inside - I followed Jai & Bee's suggestions of spending less time on kneading and using low gluten flour by adding cornstarch so it may well be the need for fresher yeast the next time. The sauce was excellent and it was such a pleasure having unlimited toppings on it with good quality cheese. We are definitely not going back to store bought if I can help it - but next time I'll try to see that my family doesn't almost starve in the process ;)

Thin Crust Pizza

For the crust I went with this recipe from Jugalbandi - I used the mix of refined flour, whole wheat flour and cornstarch and kneaded it by hand for a few minutes to get a smooth, ball of dough.

Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Sauce

Red Pepper - 1
4 tomatoes - chopped
4 tbsp tomato puree
2 cloves of garlic
1 chopped onion
1 tbsp mixed Italian herb seasoning
1 tsp red chilli powder
olive oil - 1 tbsp
salt to taste

1. Smear the red pepper with a drop of oil and roast over a low flame, turning with tongs till the skin blackens all over. Remove from the fire,wrap in aluminum foil and keep aside for 10 minutes till it cools. Peel the skin, cut the pepper into two halves, discard the seeds inside and the white pith. Chop the pepper into small pieces. 2. Finely chop the onions and tomatoes as well as the garlic cloves. 3. Heat the oil, add the garlic cloves, saute 1 minute then add the chopped onions and saute till soft and translucent. 4. Put in the chopped tomatoes and the chopped peppers, red chilli powder and salt and saute for 5 minutes till it turns mushy. Add 1/4 cup of water, bring to a boil and then reduce flame and cook covered for 5 minutes till the sauce reduces and becomes thick.
5. Add the italian herb seasoning and remove from flame. Cool and spread over the pizza base (enough for two 12 inch bases).

Veggie Garden Topping

I used about half a cup each of babycorn, mushrooms, bell peppers and cherry tomatoes, 2 onions and a few cloves of garlic. 2 green chillies chopped for Hubby's side of the pizza - I would use jalepenos the next time.

Instead of the usual mozarella, I used a cup of good quality grated Cheddar Cheese.

Araichu Vitta Kozhambu (Gravy made with freshly ground spices)

Most of you must have figured out now that I love kozhambu (South Indian curries), the spicier and tangier the better! There is this one with okra, another one with pumpkin and yet another one with sun dried berries

A week of dals, roti, subzi or even pasta, pizza and tortillas and there will be this gnawing feeling at the back of my mind (or is tongue) and eventually I figure out I can't wait to shake up my palate with a lip smacking kozhambu. It took some time for me to get the proportions right, but when I did, making this seemed even more easier than sambar - atleast one didn't have to wait for the dal to cook.

This Sunday morning was one such day. I woke up feeling quite in the mood for something different than the usual tomato or onion chutney or sambar we have with dosai. It helps if you have a stock of tamarind extract or if you are using tamarind paste.

But even if you don't, pour some warm water over a small ball of tamarind. By the time, you cut the veggies and boil then, roast the masala and grind it, it would have soaked for about 20 minutes - long enough to extract the juice. Boil with the freshly ground masala, add the cooked vegetable half way through and in a bit you have some great tasting kozhambu ready to go with dosai, idli or rice.

This dish goes to Srivalli's Curry Mela which she is hosting on her blog Cooking 4 all Seasons.

Araichu vitta kozhambu

Half a cup chopped pumpkin (drumstick, brinjal or okra can be used; brinjal and okra need to be fried a bit before adding to the gravy and not cooked in water)
Small lime size ball of tamarind soaked in 3 cups of water

Masala:
Red chillies - 5
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Fenugreek - 1/4 tsp
Chana dal - 2 tsp
1/4 cup grated coconut

Tempering:
Oil - 1/2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
asafoetida - pinch
curry leaves - 5-6

1. Extract juice of tamarind and keep aside
2. Cook the pumpkin pieces in about 2-3 cups of water till just done.
3. Roast the spices in half a tsp of oil and then grind to a paste with the coconut.
4. Heat oil in a kadai, add the mustard seeds; when they splutter, add the asafoetida, curry leaves and saute for half a minute.
5. Add the masala paste and fry for a minute
6. Pour the tamarind extract, add salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes
7. Add the cooked vegetables and simmer for another 5-10 minutes till the gravy is a bit thick and the flavours have blended well.
8. Serve with idli, dosai or rice.